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Article FORMS, CEREMONIES, AND SYMBOLS Page 1 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Forms, Ceremonies, And Symbols
POEMS , CEEEMONIES , AND SYMBOLS-
Thebe is a great deal of idle , ignorant cant at the present time , in regard to forms and ceremonies . They are often spoken of as absurd and peurile , as relics of a dark age , and as unworthy of the advanced condition of civilization and intelligence ; but it is rather
a remarkable circumstance that with the abolition of many conventional forms , a new zeal in the cultivation of the history and objects of symbolism , in some of its higher departments , has arisen amongst men of taste and erudition . The subject is one in which our Masonic Brotherhood cannot but be interested .
We propose to offer a few remarks on the necessity and utility of these outward forms and signs , and to show wherein they may and may not be safely dispensed with . That forms and ceremonies are to a certain extent necessary , none will deny . As social and intelligent beings , we require some medium
for the intercommunication of ideas . Language is but a symbol of thought , and we might as well admit the truth of the celebrated
sarcasm , that " language was given to man to conceal thought , " as admit , which some maintain , that forms and ceremonies are mere substitutes for the actual respect , homage , or esteem , which they embody or represent . Indeed , they are as necessary to our social wants as language itself ; for words convey ideas and emotions but imperfectly . "Wh y do writers underscore certain words , or have them
printed in italics or capitals , with added notes of admiration ; but that they feel that language alone is deficient in emphasis and point , and incapable of conveying the tone and action , and full meaning of an impassioned speaker ? "Whence arises the dramatic interest of the stage , but from this imperfection of language ? Else we might read Shakspeare with equal interest at home . The very attire of individuals , not only on the stage , bat in society , has an utterance ; it compels us to form some judgment as to their character . The TOL . I . 4 O
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Forms, Ceremonies, And Symbols
POEMS , CEEEMONIES , AND SYMBOLS-
Thebe is a great deal of idle , ignorant cant at the present time , in regard to forms and ceremonies . They are often spoken of as absurd and peurile , as relics of a dark age , and as unworthy of the advanced condition of civilization and intelligence ; but it is rather
a remarkable circumstance that with the abolition of many conventional forms , a new zeal in the cultivation of the history and objects of symbolism , in some of its higher departments , has arisen amongst men of taste and erudition . The subject is one in which our Masonic Brotherhood cannot but be interested .
We propose to offer a few remarks on the necessity and utility of these outward forms and signs , and to show wherein they may and may not be safely dispensed with . That forms and ceremonies are to a certain extent necessary , none will deny . As social and intelligent beings , we require some medium
for the intercommunication of ideas . Language is but a symbol of thought , and we might as well admit the truth of the celebrated
sarcasm , that " language was given to man to conceal thought , " as admit , which some maintain , that forms and ceremonies are mere substitutes for the actual respect , homage , or esteem , which they embody or represent . Indeed , they are as necessary to our social wants as language itself ; for words convey ideas and emotions but imperfectly . "Wh y do writers underscore certain words , or have them
printed in italics or capitals , with added notes of admiration ; but that they feel that language alone is deficient in emphasis and point , and incapable of conveying the tone and action , and full meaning of an impassioned speaker ? "Whence arises the dramatic interest of the stage , but from this imperfection of language ? Else we might read Shakspeare with equal interest at home . The very attire of individuals , not only on the stage , bat in society , has an utterance ; it compels us to form some judgment as to their character . The TOL . I . 4 O